Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on 21 September that cooperation with Israel on energy drilling will soon commence, in addition to operating energy networks in energy-starved Europe, Anadolu Agency reported.
“We will start energy drilling work with Israel. Not only will we begin operating energy transmission lines to Turkiye, but also from Turkiye to Europe,” Erdogan was cited by Turkish media as saying.
On 19 September, Netanyahu met with Erdogan for the first time on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, following years of frozen ties that only started to thaw in the last few years.
During the meeting, Erdogan invited Netanyahu to Turkiye and said he would visit Israel himself.
“I told him (Netanyahu), ‘We are expecting you first, and then I will pay a visit to Israel with my delegation,’ and we agreed on that,” Erdogan told reporters during his visit to New York.
Erdogan also expressed his intention to significantly increase the volume of annual trade with Israel from $9.5 billion to $15 billion and said he reached a formal agreement with Netanyahu on the matter.
Erdogan added that he and Netanyahu had discussed forming a mechanism between their countries, including some ministries, to increase cooperation in tourism, technology, and energy.
Efforts toward Saudi-Israel normalization were also a topic of discussion. Erdogan expressed support for the deal, saying that there would be an easing of tensions in the region if the deal goes through successfully.
In March of 2022, Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Turkiye and met with Erdogan, marking the first time an Israeli president visits Turkiye in 14 years. Soon after, in December 2022, Turkiye announced that it was appointing an Israeli envoy.
Relations between Turkiye were first terminated after Israeli commandos attacked a Gaza-bound aid ship sent by Turkiye in 2010, killing 10 people. The case against the Israeli soldiers who committed the crime was dropped by the Turkish court in 2016, allowing for the resumption of friendly relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv.
As relations began to warm, however, Israel accused Turkiye of conspiring with its enemies against it, with Israeli media reporting on Hamas having a platform from which it could conduct ‘terror attacks’ against Israel from Turkiye.
Source: The Cradle
